Amtrak: Fatal crossing had no record of accidents

Jun. 24, 2011

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RAIL ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS:

The Federal Railroad Administration conducts formal investigations of select railroad accidents and incidents in order to determine the root causes and identify contributing factors so that remedial action can be taken to prevent similar occurrences.

Inspections include testing track, signal systems and other infrastructure, as well as locomotives, rail cars and other equipment; interviewing train crews or railroad employees whose actions may have contributed to the accident and recording other eyewitness accounts; reviewing a railroad's inspection records and reviewing locomotive event recorder (black box) data and other information regarding railroad communications, including the actions of railroad dispatchers.

Investigators are required and expected to take as long as necessary in order to evaluate and analyze all physical and factual evidence, but the agency seeks to complete all major accident probes within nine months. Once an investigation is completed, a formal written report is produced.

The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal investigatory agency, can also launch an investigation of a railroad accident. The board has sent a team to the Trinity crash site, Chicago media reported Friday. When involved, the NTSB becomes the primary federal investigative body and has responsibility for determining the probable cause of the accident. The railroad safety agency then assists in the investigation.Source: Federal Railroad Administration

NEVADA'S WORST TRAIN WRECK:On Aug. 13, 1939 the streamliner City of San Francisco derailed as it approached a bridge in Humboldt River Canyon in Northeastern Nevada outside of Elko. Of the 165 people aboard, 24 died and 121 were injured. Investigators determined the wreck was caused by someone who deliberately tampered with the track, but no suspect was ever found.Source: RGJ archives

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Authorities have said safety equipment was apparently working at the Churchill County railroad crossing that was the site of Friday's Amtrak accident.

That crossing, which had crossing gates, red lights and bells, has had no accidents or incidents reported during the last 20 years, according to the Federal Railroad Safety Administration.

Data from the Amtrak train's "black box," interviews with passengers and others, inspections of equipment, reviewing communications and examining railroad records will be part of the accident investigation, the agency said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's "railroad crossing inventory" notes that the U.S. 95 crossing handles two Amtrak trains and 14 Union Pacific freight trains per day. Passenger trains move through the crossing at up to 79 miles per hour, the report says. The posted highway speed is 70 mph.

Unlike some rural crossings, the Churchill County site has a pair of cantilevered drop-bars, two warning bells and nine pairs of flashing red lights that are activated by approaching trains, the inventory states. The pavement on either side of the tracks is painted with warning signs.

The drop-bars on either side of the tracks block one lane each, the report notes.

The other incidents involved equipment falling from trains or cars damaged from getting too close to the tracks.

Two collisions in Washoe County had one fatality each. The other fatal crossing accident occurred in Storey County in 2005.

Ron Kulat, spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration in Washington, D.C., said his agency will investigate Friday's collision and do a root-cause analysis of the incident. He said the agency, which handles more than 100 train accidents a year, tries to complete all investigations within nine months.

About a dozen investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will begin digging through the site today.

June 19, 2005 at 6:30 p.m. a 44-car freight train hit a car that was moving through a crossing on Eagle Picher Road in Storey County. The 61-year-old driver was killed. The crossing had gates, bells and warning lights.

June 22, 2003 at 7:12 p.m.: A 14-car freight train traveling at 79 mph struck a car stopped at a crossing in northern Washoe County. The 45-year-old driver was killed and his passenger was injured. The crossing had "railroad crossing" warning signs only.

July 29, 2002 at 4:31 p.m.: A 10-car Amtrak train moving at about 40 mph and carrying 265 passengers and crew struck a car moving through a crossing on River Branch Road in Washoe County. The 17-year-old driver was killed and his passenger was injured. The crossing had stop signs only.